


...And What Happened in Peru

by GrumpyJenn



Category: The Librarians (TV 2014)
Genre: Kissing, Missing Scene, Trust Issues
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-18
Updated: 2016-01-25
Packaged: 2018-05-14 17:23:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 2,964
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5751781
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GrumpyJenn/pseuds/GrumpyJenn





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Struckk](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Struckk/gifts), [AerynB](https://archiveofourown.org/users/AerynB/gifts), [luladannys](https://archiveofourown.org/users/luladannys/gifts), [StitchinKat](https://archiveofourown.org/users/StitchinKat/gifts).



Cassandra Cillian didn’t know what to do.

She usually did, or if not, she could find out just by observing the world around her and letting the patterns fall into place. It was often painful, and almost always uncomfortable, but she usually did know what to do.

But then, she wasn’t usually pinned under her unconscious best friend in the world, who was himself pinned under a heavy beam or a pile of bricks or something. It was hard to tell, because in addition to the roof of the ancient cavern they’d been investigating caving in, their lights had also gone out. And it was the wee small hours of the morning, so there was no ambient daylight to work with either, even assuming any could get in here.

The anechoic  quality of the little noises around them – creaks and water dripping and thank God, Jake’s breathing – didn’t indicate they were out in the open, though, so maybe the roof hadn’t actually fallen in, just the ceiling (and assorted masonry).

Supposedly, anyway; the Book had been annoyingly vague.

And now Jacob was out cold, Cassandra was shivering and scared and a little bit shocky, and Ezekiel was God-only-knows where, but hopefully somewhere trying to find them, get Eve, get them out of this mess.

As the darkness shaded into mere gloom – the sun must be coming up –Jacob stirred, and Cassandra had to choke back a sob of relief.  He groaned and opened his eyes, and she didn’t even think, just grabbed him by the face and brought his mouth to hers.

She kissed him greedily, relief at his waking up and a bit of terror and more than a bit of loneliness overwhelming her better sense. And the wonder of it was, after the initial yelp of surprise, he kissed her back.

He was really, _really_ good at it. She’d known he would be. They lay there, pinned beneath the rubble, kissing sort of desperately in mingled relief and adrenaline, and then her hands slid into his hair and encountered a patch of something damp and sticky. And he yelped again, in a pained tone this time, and pulled away.

Oh, God, she’d _hurt_ him. “I’m sorry, Jake, I’m so, so sorry, please I didn’t mean, I…”

Jacob interrupted her. “I ain’t sorry, Cassie.”

“But I…” And it was suddenly too much; she’d been so scared for him and for herself – not that she’d die, she was used to that specter hanging over her head – but that _he_ would, and then she’d be pinned under a dead body instead of an unconscious one. So Cassandra burst into tears.

“Don’t, darlin’,” Jake said, and started kissing tears away gently. “You’re okay, I promise, we’ll get out of this. There y’go…” He broke off as she regained her self-control, then smiled at her. “Honey, kin you see any way to help us get out?

Cassie took as deep a breath as she could with his weight on her, and looked around.

 _Echoes of light  
That one, there   _              

“Can you move your arms at all, Jacob?” He shook his head.

“Think I got a broken wrist.”

She winced. He wouldn’t have said it if it wasn’t really painful, and the country voice was coming out thick. That usually meant he was under major stress… “Which one?” He wiggled fingers against the left side of her head.

“Not that one.”

“Okay.” She had one chance at this; she’d have to reach that wooden plank and drag it toward them, then use it to pry up the biggest of the rocks. There wasn’t another way.

Except that another way did appear, in the person of one Ezekiel Jones, “You two okay?” It was a shout, and Cassandra held her breath. If there was another collapse…

But Jacob replied that they were okay, and Zeke gave them a knowing, leering kind of look as he noted their relative positions. “Ezekiel,” Cassandra said. “Can you reach that board? No, that one; it’ll make a better lever.” She sighed with relief again as their thief grabbed in. “Thanks. Now put that end under the big boulder and use it as a pry bar.” She pointed with the hand that wasn’t sticky with the blood from Jake’s scalp wound.

Ezekiel complied with an unusual lack of commentary; maybe he actually realized that they were both hurt, Jake far more than she. He could see the back of the older man’s head, after all, where she’d felt the sticky warm… Cassie shuddered, and Jake looked at her with alarm. “What?”

She shook her head. “I’m okay.”

He looked disbelieving, and held her gaze.

“C’mon, mate,” Zeke said cheerfully after levering and shoving the largest bits off them. “Get up.

Jake sighed deeply, and then pushed himself up with his right hand, standing and extending that hand out to help her up.

As she got to her feet, he automatically reached out with his other hand to steady her…

And then he passed out at her feet.


	2. Chapter 2

“Jacob?”

It was Cassie.

Jake tried to pry his eyes open, and he succeeded on the third try. God, he was so _tired_ , and he ached in places he didn’t know he had, and his left wrist was a white-hot, searing pain.

That didn’t even begin to cover the headache he had the second he opened his eyes.

He must’ve made some sort of noise because he heard Cassie make a concerned sound and it suddenly got a lot darker in the room.

Down to bearable.

“You’ve been in and out,” Cassie said softly. “Are you in for good now? They said you could have some painkillers when you were. Are.” She looked a little uncomfortable in the gloom, and there was a scrape on her cheekbone that made Jake wince. He hadn’t taken care of her.

He’d promised Baird he’d keep them safe, at least physically, and he hadn’t done it. Cassie was hurt, it was his fault, he was supposed to keep her _safe_ , and… he should say something, make sure she had no lasting damage…

“You okay, darlin’?” His voice was hoarse, and his mouth was dry as dust.

“Yeah. ‘M okay.” She didn’t sound it, she sounded like something was very wrong, like she was struggling with something, like she wanted to say something but was afraid to, but Jake didn’t have the energy to chase down the vague thought. _Prob’ly just worried about_ me, he thought, _when I’m the one didn’t protect her,_ and watched her as she puttered around the room, pouring water from a pitcher and sitting stiffly down in a chair beside the bed.

She put a straw in the cup and held it out to him, letting him sip but insisting on holding the cup for him herself. The water revived Jake a bit, and presently he put his good hand over hers. “What’s wrong, honey?”

“Nothing. Really. Now that you’re awake, I…” her voice sounded a little choked, and he took the water from her, set it on the bed table, then took her hand again and tugged gently until her posture relaxed some and she stopped looking so tense.

"Cassie. Sweetheart, s’okay to fall apart now. I’m prouda’ you for holdin’ it together this long. Uh… how long was I out?” He could hear how tired he was with the country in his own voice, and he must look like crap for Cassie to be so worried.

“Most of two days. The doctor said it was because of the concussion."

Jake huffed a little. Maybe she was scared for him, scared that he’d have brain damage or something, being out so long.

Well… he was a little concerned about that too.

Cassie was still tense, though not as bad as before, but her whole bearing relaxed as the door opened and the doctor came in.

Jake looked at the doctor with interest. He was an elderly and kind-looking man, and he spoke to them both in rapid Spanish that made Cassie laugh and say, “Despacio, despacio, por favor.” Jake felt himself smiling. She was so adorable as she told the old man to slow down, and she treated him like a favorite uncle.

The old gentleman turned to his patient, and Jake let himself be examined, answered the doctor’s answers in Spanish – which caused the twinkly brown eyes to widen with gratification that Jake spoke it so well – and accepted a bottle of painkillers. He probably wouldn’t take any; he’d rather be hurting than muzzy-headed. But it couldn’t hurt to have the pills with him.

At least for nighttime.

When the doctor said he could go home – to their hotel at least – as long as his friends kept an eye on him, Jake felt himself relax further. It wasn’t that he didn’t like this doctor. He did. But he didn’t know these people, and he’d rather have Cassie – or even Jones – be the one to make sure he didn’t slip into a coma or something. He wondered where Jones was, and just as he opened his mouth to ask, Cassie spoke.

“I’ll make sure Ezekiel’s ready to watch over you, Jake. I know you wouldn’t…” She trailed off. _Wouldn’t what? Wouldn’t be comfortable with her watchin’ me, maybe, seein’ me when I’d let her get hurt…_ His thoughts were still a little fuzzy. Why was she looking at him like that? Had he done something to offend her during or after their accident? Jake knew that sometimes short term memory wasn’t good after concussion, and what if he’d done something... inappropriate? He had to say something.

“Druther have you, Cass, given my druthers.”

She lit up like a Christmas tree, like he had handed her the moon, and part of Jake wondered why it made her so happy.

The other part was starting to hurt again, and he began to think maybe the painkillers weren’t such a bad idea after all.

Not with someone he trusted to watch over him while he slept.


	3. Chapter 3

Cassandra did not know what to do, for the second time this week.

And this time she didn’t have the excuse of a pile of rubble pinning Jacob on top of her.

But there was a problem. She wanted him. She could see that he wanted her. But if she so much as brushed by him he’d go all still, as though he was afraid of her, or maybe afraid of what he might do to her. He kept talking about the cave-in, sort of asking questions without coming right out and asking them in his forthright way. Like he was sure he had said or done something offensive but couldn’t quite remember what it was.

He probably _couldn’t_ remember what it was. Head injuries were like that. But they were friends anyway, right? Why would he suddenly be acting like… well, like he had at the very beginning, when she had been so stupid about the Brotherhood.

It was really beginning to bother her.

So she decided to do something about it. If he wouldn’t come right out and say what was bothering him, she’d have to confront him about it. Tonight.

Before she lost her nerve.

 

>>>\--<<<

 

The guilt was awful. Cassie was so stiff and uncharacteristically formal around him, and Jake couldn’t bring himself to ask her whether he had offended her, if he had hurt her. He must have.

She’d do her work – they had just finished the case, finally, and were off to their hotel rooms to rest – and she was her usual self with Jones. But with him, Jake, she was… stilted.  He resolved to talk to her in the morning, before they went back to the Library to regroup and recuperate before their next case. He’d’ve talked to her tonight, but his wrist ached, and the scrape on the back of his head throbbed like a son-of-a-bitch, and all he wanted to do tonight was take a pain pill and go to sleep.

And then he dreamed.

In the dream, Cassandra was whispering his name, and leaning over to kiss him, and he wanted that kiss more than anything. It was only when her lips left his and started trailing little kisses along his jaw line that he realized he wasn’t dreaming, that those lips were _real_ , and that his good hand had started to wander, inching toward places he had no _right_ to touch.

Jake sat up, and watched in dismay as Cassie’s face closed down, showing absolutely nothing, no emotion at all. This was so unlike her that he thought he must really have offended her, and he heard himself trying to stammer out an apology.

She put up one hand to stop him, and Jake took a closer look. Her face showed nothing; she’d schooled her expression so severely that it looked like it hurt. But her _eyes_ …

Her eyes looked as though he had slapped her, wary and sad and ever so slightly afraid all at once, and another wave of guilt hit Jake like a ton of bricks. He had to say something, he _had_ to. “I…” he started, but this time she choked out an inarticulate little cry and turned away.

There they were, in a frozen tableau of her standing, facing away and probably fighting tears, and him sitting like a lump in his bed, trying to figure out how to get his friend back. If Jake had seen the little scene in a frame, he’d have titled it _Painfully Awkward_.

Finally, Cassie said, in a tiny voice, “Why?”

“I…”

She turned to face him. “I know you’re interested. Your pulse and respiration are elevated, your pupils are dilated, and your face is flushed. And…” She blushed and paused, then went on. “You know I want you. So why?”

“Cass… I don’t wanna take advantage…” He broke off as she gave a short bark of utterly mirthless laughter.

“ _You_ don’t want to take advantage of _me_? Who’s concussed and drugged? Who kissed whom, both times?”  She obviously heard her tone escalating, because she clenched her hands into fists and Jake watched her visibly calm herself. “Why do you think _you’d_ be the one taking advantage? Is it because I’m younger than you? Less experienced? Because I have a god damn tumor in my head? I don’t think so; I think it’s a matter of trust.”

 _No_. He had to tell her, because the look in her eyes was killing him. “Cassie, I _do_ trust you. You earned that back months ago. I…”

She took a deep breath, and then spoke in a much softer, sadder tone. “You trust me to do my job. You trust me to watch your back on a case. You even trust me…” Here there was a tiny, choked sob. “You even trust me to watch over you when you’re injured. And I am so, _so_ grateful for those things, Jacob, because I never thought I’d earn them back. But I…” Another little sob. “But none of you – except maybe Ezekiel – trust me to… to make decisions on my own, to make my own choices, to know what I want outside of being a Librarian. And I know it’s my own fault I lost the chance, but if I have to keep proving it to you every day, I’m… I’ll _break_.”

“Cassie, god, you know I never meant to hurt you.” Jake felt tears building in his own eyes and a lump growing in his throat, because she was right. His instinct was to protect her, even if it meant protecting her from herself. And Baird was even worse.

And in trying to protect her, they had hurt her.

She smiled a sad little smile at him. “I know you didn’t. You’re too basically decent a person to deliberately hurt your friends.” Pausing for a moment, she wiped her eyes. “That’s what makes this so _hard_.”

“Makes what hard?”

“I have to go. This case is over, so I have to go out on my own.” _No… Cassie, please_ …

 “I don’t want you to go,” Jake said, and then stopped as the lump got too big to talk around.

“I don’t want to go either, Jacob,” she told him sadly. “But I think I have to. If I’m ever going to prove to you, to Eve… even to myself that I can make my own choices – _good_ choices – I have to do it on my own terms, without you as a safety net. I’m sorry…”

He saw the sense of it: she needed a chance to, well, to grow up. She hadn’t gotten the chance to be a kid when she was a kid, and after the tumor, well… Jake supposed she’d been too concerned with being alive. So yeah, he could see the sense in it… even though it made him want to just grab hold and never let her go.

“Don’t be sorry, darlin’. I can see what you’re sayin’. Don’t like it, but… well, guess I can understand it.”

The answering smile was a little wider this time. And this time it reached her eyes.

 

>>>-<<<

 

“Mornin’, Jones. Where’s Cass?”

Ezekiel gave Jake a strange look. “Said she’s goin’ walkabout on her own. Said she told you last night.”

Jake felt that lump again, even as he heard himself say, in as unconcerned a voice as he could manage, “I just didn’t realize she was plannin’ to leave this early in the day.”

 _Or without sayin’ goodbye, though I guess she did that last night late_.

“Right, mate. What d’you have in the mini-clippings?”

“You know?" Jake said it softly. “I think I’ll do a case or two on my own, too.”

And he thought, but did not say, _maybe I’ll learn something too_ …


End file.
